WARSAW, July 16 (Xinhua) -- Newly-inaugurated Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda visited Warsaw on Tuesday, expressing a strong will to cooperate with Poland on many fronts.

"Two days after his inauguration, (President Nauseda) came to Poland. This is really a great sign for us when it comes to building neighbourly relations, Polish-Lithuanian relations. I also take this as an obligation for myself to strive to build these relations as well as possible," Polish President Andrzej Duda said at a joint press conference with Nauseda.

Duda said he expected to build similar ties with his new Lithuanian counterpart as the one between former Polish President Lech Kaczynski and former Lithuanian President Valdas Adamkus, who were both friends and partners.

Duda thanked the Polish minority in Lithuania for voting for Nauseda and said he hoped this would bode well for the future of the Polish minority's rights. An estimated 165,000 Poles live in Lithuania, representing over 5 percent of the population.

The two presidents said that they had discussed the two countries' common future in the European Union and NATO, as well as their military cooperation as members of the transatlantic military alliance. Duda said that the planned increase in the U.S.'s military presence on Polish soil was also meant to provide security to Lithuania.

Nauseda said the two presidents were in full agreement on the interconnectivity projects and that there was still room for improving the economic relations between the two countries.

Asked about Lithuania's position on the conflict between Poland and the European Commission on judicial reforms implemented by the Law and Justice (PiS) party, Nauseda said it was important to understand the situation very well before taking steps.

The Lithuanian president said he thought the Polish reforms were motivated by the need to fight corruption and renew the personnel in the justice system, and that the Polish side was reacting to Brussels' signals and therefore showing the will to cooperate.

"We should not go the way of sanctions, but the way of mutual understanding," Nauseda concluded. Enditem

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